1
as in to pretend
to present a false appearance of
he dissembled happiness at the news that his old girlfriend was getting married—to someone else
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2
as in to dissimulate
to take on a false or deceptive appearance
children learn to dissemble at a surprisingly early age
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Recent Examples of dissemble
Building trust in companies and their leaders isn’t easy, given many decades of dissembling.
—
Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025
You’d like your government to tell you the truth, and the government dissembled repeatedly after the raid about what the rules of engagement were.
—Aryeh Neier, The New York Review of Books, 3 Mar. 2025
Pushing back on reporters, at the time Scher often dissembled and appeared to brush aside concerns about what was clearly an increasingly out-of-control situation.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 19 July 2024
That same week, Altman made headlines at a Senate hearing by asking to be regulated — wowing senators who were more accustomed to tech CEOs dissembling or responding evasively to questions.
—Brian Fung, CNN, 14 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for dissemble
Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025
You’d like your government to tell you the truth, and the government dissembled repeatedly after the raid about what the rules of engagement were.
—Aryeh Neier, The New York Review of Books, 3 Mar. 2025
Pushing back on reporters, at the time Scher often dissembled and appeared to brush aside concerns about what was clearly an increasingly out-of-control situation.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 19 July 2024
That same week, Altman made headlines at a Senate hearing by asking to be regulated — wowing senators who were more accustomed to tech CEOs dissembling or responding evasively to questions.
—Brian Fung, CNN, 14 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for dissemble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissemble
Verb
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Wolf, ruled out for the season Friday but still available for his exit interview before Sunday’s game, didn’t pretend the season has been enjoyable.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
5 Apr. 2026
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This team is improved, has a deeper roster, no longer pretends Kris Bryant is a major league player and features more functional pitchers (No, seriously).—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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By the time Szeemann was invited to organize two consecutive installments of the Venice Biennale (in 1999 and 2001), the criticism of curators’ assuming the role of meta-artists, in Szeemann’s case with quasi-shamanistic aspirations, had become a commonplace.—
Daniel Birnbaum,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
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And assume that any unexpected message about your Social Security number deserves a second look.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The first of these was a centrifuge, like those that astronauts use to simulate the high-gravity conditions of a rocket launch.—
Ian Stokes,
Space.com,
5 Apr. 2026
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For example, Glover, Koch and Hansen practiced CPR in space, taking turns bracing against Orion’s bulkhead to gain leverage to simulate chest compressions and rescue breathing while recording the proceedings for future crew trainings.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dissemble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissemble. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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